For years, self storage was a “build it and they will come” business, but greater competition has driven developers to seek out premium locations and to build vertically to justify the cost of land. While a number of companies have entered the market to provide pre-engineered multi-story structures with relative cost efficiency, innovation in that area has been limited.
Regardless of whether a self storage facility is on a single level, such as a sprawling outdoor facility, or a multi-story building in a rural or urban environment, each storage location has an associated amount of overhead that must be accommodated by the facility owner. For example, outdoor facilities usually allow for several car widths in front of each storage location, while indoor facilities usually provide hallways wide enough to accommodate utility carts or the like. Outdoor facilities also provide roadways adjacent the storage locations, while indoor facilities provide interconnecting hallways, stairways, elevators and associated safety features such as fire escapes and the like. While this additional space is only used sporadically, it is a required feature of the storage property and must be provided on a full-time basis for the benefit of customers.
Indoor and outdoor facilities may also provide other amenities such as appropriate lighting, vending machines, bathrooms, office space for onsite personnel, security gates, security cameras, alarm systems and the like. Self storage facilities that allow twenty-four hour access also create opportunities for thieves, vandals and other undesirables who may deter certain users from taking advantage of unlimited access to the facility. Accordingly, for each storage location at a given site, there is an associated amount of extra space necessary to accommodate user access and traffic, as well as an associated amount of additional resources directed to human amenities, security and the like.
This level of overhead adds considerably to the cost of the self storage location and operation that is ultimately passed onto customers. There is a need, therefore, for a self storage system that overcomes the need for human-related overhead, that is efficient to construct and operate, and that does not require additional space or property necessary to accommodate sporadic human access.